Jim, cultivar names have nothing to do with the international code of nomenclature. If cultivar names are registered at all, it is with a body that maintains these specific records; such as the Royal Horticultural Society, American Hemerocallis Society, etc. Botanical names, however, must follow the code, therefore, if it is a described entity under the code, then the latin must decline properly. Theoretically, you could have an Allium whateverii album 'Alba'. A bit silly, but so are most rules! Jamie V. I always wanted an orchid named after me; Vanda rothschildiana 'Vande', just to keep us amused! Jim McKenney schrieb: > John Grimshaw wrote: "Of course it must agree in gender! Allium is a neuter > noun so any adjectives > in Latin must agree with it and have a neuter -um ending, not a feminine -a, > > Unless it was published before 1957 the use of 'Album' is illegitimate > anyway, and a name in a vernacular language should be substituted." > > > Maybe I should have been a lawyer. > > Suppose I have a good friend whose nickname is "Album". And suppose this > name is not derived from the Latin, but rather in his non-Indo-European > language this combination of transliterated letters means "prodigious > quaffer of beer". > > Surely I may name a cultivar for him and call it 'Album'. > > Or may I? > > On consideration, I would hope that I could name a cultivar 'Alba' to > commemorate an Italian friend of that name. > > And does the international code require that authors explain the etymology > of specific epithets or generic names? I don't recall seeing that in the > code; is it there? > > > Jim McKenney > jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com > Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where it's finally raining. > My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ > >